Kindle's New E-Reader Is Here

On Monday, Amazon released their latest Kindle e-reader called the Voyage, which boasts a sharper display, lighter body, and a heftier price tag. Starting at $199, it's more expensive than its predecessors: the Kindle Paperwhite ($119) and the standard Kindle ($79).

However, the Voyage is 1.55 mm slimmer, 1 ounce lighter, has 88 more pixels, and comes with what Amazon is calling "PagePress" sensors — a feature that allows you to turn the page without lifting a finger. You just simply press down on the sensor, and if you're one-handing it, there is another sensor above it to go back a page. Additionally, an adaptive light sensor adjusts brightness based on the ambient light.

Most Popular

So, is this new version, which Amazon calls its most advanced e-reader yet, worth the splurge? That depends. If you're a huge Kindle fan and looking for an upgrade, then go for it. But if you like the notion of a dedicated e-reader and don't want to pay almost $200 for it, I would suggest the recently released Kindle 6, which is an update to the standard version that now includes touch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities. The only thing you won't get with this less-expensive option is a backlit display. And if you just bought the Kindle Paperwhite, don't worry, your system will not be dated. In fact, there is a software update coming to all of these devices in November.

Personally, all the new Kindle software features are what I'm most excited about. For example, one feature dubbed "X-Ray" is getting even more enhancement to help you easily navigate a book, especially the long ones over 1,000 pages. Put your book down for a long period of time and can't remember where you left off? No problem. X-Ray picks out the most notable pages and passages from what you previously read so that you can quickly scan them and remind yourself. It can also help you navigate the images in the book, so you can easily put names to faces.

Another exciting upcoming feature is "WordWise," which is a simple way to boost your vocabulary. When activated, it displays short definitions above difficult words on the page. If you want to learn more about that term, or to find other definitions, simply tap the word for more information. By using the slider, you can manually adjust the number of definitions per page.

That all said, if you're ready to take the plunge with a Kindle Voyage, you may have to wait a bit. As of this post, the Voyage is backordered on Amazon.com with an expected stock date of November 24, 2014. The e-reader is also listed on Best Buy's website for pre-order, but rumor has it that it may be available at your local store today.

Arne Bostrom is a test engineer in the Good Housekeeping Research Institute's Consumer Electronics Lab.